Terrorized them, because their deaths would only raise more questions. But fear created an ally of sorts; those two men would forever deny finding out anything unusual about Katherine or seeing the need for further investigation.
“And so if James can be persuaded to remain silent,” Geoff said, “we have no problem. The demon, however-”
“Needs to be slain.”
“Yes. But we’ll not likely be handling that, either.” From beside his chair, he heard an eager chuff. He shook off the memory of the giant demon dog, its teeth closing over Maggie’s arm. “And, so. No murder required. Just a rescue.”
Maggie was studying his face again. Specifically, his mouth.
“Maggie,” he warned. “Don’t look at me like that.”
Her gaze dropped to his hands.
“Not there, either.”
She met his eyes. He’d known few people who could hold his sightless gaze for more than a couple of seconds.
“I look everywhere,” she said.
“Yes. But not for as long as you look at me.”
She closed her eyes; he saw darkness. He heard the scrape of her chair. Warm lips pressed hard against his. Her fingers raked through his hair. His shocked inhalation brought her into him. Christ, she smelled incredible. Tasted like heaven. He wanted more, wanted to see her, too. But the idea of finding another pair of eyes to look through had barely begun to form when every sensation that was Maggie left.
Then she was back in her chair, and he was staring at his own astonished expression.
She looked down at her toast, picked up another slice. She must have noticed that her fingers were unsteady at the same moment that he did-her gaze snapped to the street, to the sidewalk, and began its familiar skip from face to face.
“I shouldn’t have-”
His temper flared. “You’ll not apologize for it.”
“Your sister is still missing.”
Yes, she was. Bloody hell. Katherine wouldn’t begrudge either of them that kiss, but dammit-there were priorities.
He nodded, pushed his hand through his hair. It’d felt better when Maggie’s fingers had done it. “More lighthouses, then.”
Blake found the lighthouse half an hour later.The photo had been taken from a position nearer to it than Katherine was, but it gave them a direction: about thirty miles north.
They’d only been on the road for a few minutes when the demon came to see Katherine again. In the passenger seat, Blake’s shoulders straightened, his eyes squinting slightly. As if, Maggie thought, he were trying to urge Katherine to look at something more closely.
“He’s GQ again. And he’s speaking to her, but Katherine isn’t… ” Blake tilted his head, frowning. “She’s not looking at him, so I’ve no idea what he’s saying.”
She shouldn’t have been surprised, but she was. “Can you read lips?”
“Not perfectly. Enough to catch a word here and there, put it together. Come on, Kate, you know I need to see his face.”
Oh, no, Maggie thought. She glanced in the rearview mirror, saw Sir Pup gazing steadily back at her. A hellhound wouldn’t know, and a man might not realize what that meant-but Maggie could guess.
Katherine was attracted to the demon. Probably trying not to be… but still attracted.
Demons, unfortunately, could be charming, so that their lies dripped like honey. And the shapes they took were usually as gorgeous as sin.
“He’s holding out his hand to her. She’s not taking it, but she is following him down the stairs. The curtains are drawn at the front windows.”
“So that no one can see in,” Maggie said. “Or so that she can’t signal to anyone.”
“There’s James, standing near the doorway of a dining room. He’s decked out in black, wearing a shoulder holster.” Blake frowned. “There’s food. It’s a nice setup. GQ is smiling, pulling out a chair for her. What the hell is he doing?”
“Playing good cop, bad cop,” Maggie said. “In a few minutes, James will get pissed, start yelling, pull out the gun. The demon will be the voice of reason and put himself between Katherine and the weapon.”
And then there was the food, she thought. How hungry was Katherine by now? Even if she didn’t want to feel gratitude, she would be thankful for the chance to eat. It was human nature.
Blake frowned. “So he’s creating an express version of Stockholm syndrome? He’ll make her trust him, so she’ll give up the location faster?”
“I think so.” Katherine knew the Rules, and what the demon couldn’t do to her. She wouldn’t worry about him, but look for ways to get around James. “They’ll want to keep her afraid of James, but they’ll also give her a friend.” A handsome, sympathetic friend. “One who can convince her that as soon as she helps him, he’ll let her go.”
Blake was silent for a few minutes, then said, “You were spot on, Maggie.”
“The fight?”
“Yes. The demon is taking her back upstairs now.” He pounded his fist against his knee. “And she’s still not looking at him, though he’s speaking with her. Still not… Oh, but she’s taken a scone with her and heaped it with jam.”
Jam? Maggie glanced over, saw his wide grin. “What?”
He shook his head. “We’ve only to wait now, and we’ll know what it is he wants.”
As soon as the demon left her alone, Katherine used the jam to write “dragon blood” on the bathroom mirror.
Which, Maggie thought, was not as helpful as it might have been.
“Dragon blood?” Blake scrubbed his hands over his face. “How would she find that? There’s only been one on Earth, and it was killed thousands of years ago.”
By the sword that had tainted his uncle’s blood. And-
Maggie’s stomach sank. “Is that what happened to you? And Katherine? You were changed by the sword?”
“Not directly.”
Born different, not changed. “Someone else. Your parents or your grandparents were tainted by it.”
“No. But go back two centuries, and you’ll land on them. What are you thinking, Maggie?”
“The reason your uncle hired me was that a few demons found out he was different from other vampires, so he needed that extra protection from them. And that if your family has been different for two hundred years, there will be a pattern that shows up. No matter how hard he tries to hide it. If a demon looked at him first, then looked at his family…” Maybe Blake’s pattern wasn’t as easy to establish. But his sister-“Katherine’s cases-solved rate is incredibly high.”
“And they took blood from us both.” His grim tone matched the lines of tension beside his mouth and nose. “So that’s how they knew. But that still doesn’t tell us where she’ll find dragon blood now.”
Her stomach seemed to sink lower. Maybe Katherine didn’t have to find dragon blood. Maybe the demon thought she already had it. “Do you know about the grigori?”
“No.”
That was no surprise. Ames-Beaumont, she knew, had only learned of them recently, too. “Demons can’t have children. But before the war with the angels-when the dragon was killed on Earth-Lucifer made some demons drink dragon blood. They were changed by it, and they mated with humans. The offspring are the grigori.”
She watched his face, and saw the horrified realization that his family had been changed by dragon blood. His voice was low and furious. “Is he trying to experiment with her? To see if he can impregnate her?”
“If he is, there is one silver lining: it has to be of her free will.” As in everything else, the demons’ Rules had to be followed.
“And so he does the nice-guy routine before he tries to-” He bit the rest off. Anger and horror battled for equal play in his expression.
“Yes.” She focused on the road again. “But maybe we’re wrong. It just might be… Oh, Jesus.”
The SUV sped past them, heading the opposite way, but she was certain she hadn’t mistaken the driver. James. Her heart began pounding, but she fought the impulse to slam the brakes, to whip the vehicle around and follow him.